Page 58 of The Moment He Couldn’t Walk Away

“Go for it.” He waved her on.

“I was thinking maybe we could do pamper weekends, and The Gnat could put them on? I’ve made lots of notes, and that one came to me in the early hours of the morning⁠—”

“You’re not sleeping?” JD asked, coming to stand before her. “I like the idea, by the way, but tell me about the sleeping.”

“I’m here, shithead. Let’s do this, because I’m taking my wife out for lunch after!”

The voice reached them first, and then the man. Big bear Sawyer Duke.

“Why is it that you always appear when I don’t want you to?” JD groused as he reached out to slap his friend’s hand.

“Birdie called me saying you had a cancellation, and Mom’s looking after the offspring,” Sawyer said, filling up all the remaining space in the room. “Why don’t you want me here? Hey, Nina. How are you doing?” He leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“She’s shit and not sleeping, and I was just about to ask her if anything else is wrong. I was building up to it with my usual charm and finesse, and now that you’re here, all that has gone out the window,” JD muttered, walking back to his mobile work stand.

Sawyer looked at Nina, one thick brow raised.

“You need some beard oil and a trim,” she blurted.

“So is he right? Is other stuff bothering you?”

JD came back to stand beside Sawyer, and the two of them together created quite the impression.

“My mom has just died, I have shit to work through, and I’ve purchased Circle Left, so⁠—”

“Not that I eavesdrop or anything, but I’ve heard you moaning to both Cill and Jessie plenty of times that you don’t have much left over after payday what with paying your mortgage and buying that spoiled cat her food. You haven’t put your house on the market, so what’s the deal, Nina?” JD said.

“So how can I afford Circle Left? Is that what you’re trying to ask me?” Nina said. “I didn’t rob a bank, if that’s what you’re getting at,” she protested. “My mom left me some money.”

The silence after she’d spoken was broken by another voice.

“Jesus, JD. We talked about using tact to get the information Nina’s not sharing out of her, but you’re making a mess of it.”

“I just started,” JD protested as Cill walked in.

“Look, Nina. We know you lost your mom, but something isn’t adding up,” Cill said. “I loved her, but she didn’t have the kind of money that allowed you to buy Circle Left, unless she saved for years with the sole intention of giving it to you?”

Cill was always elegant, even when she was scruffy, which made no sense but somehow did. Looking at her mismatched slip-ons, because she’d lost one of each, all Nina could think was should she tell them? It didn’t have to be a secret, and Nina had told Finch, who was really not part of her inner circle of friends, so she owed these people the truth.

“There’s something else going on with her,” Sawyer said, eyes intent on Nina. “She’s working out what not to tell us.”

“How the fuck could you, the least insightful person in Colorado, know something like that?” JD demanded.

“Unlike you, who needs to be in everyone’s face constantly, I’m a watcher. I know when someone’s not telling me something.”

“Hello!”

“In here, Jonathan. Your back, sac, and crack wax may be on hold for a few minutes,” JD said as yet another person entered the room.

“Ooh, is it gossip?” Jonathan squeezed by Sawyer to hug Nina. “I’m all in for that.”

“Birdie!” Sawyer roared.

“Don’t roar at my staff,” JD said.

“Shut up, she’s my wife.”

Birdie came into the room, which was now full of people, and with her was the last person Nina wanted to see. Finch.